Heavenly Hospital
by MarioInWonderland
Summary: PJ had is staying in a hospital. He is sharing rooms with a boy and two girls. Their stories mix together and they become friends. But everyone has a secret... Actually, their biggest pain is in their hearts...
1. Chapter 1

OK, so, here is my new story, it´s based in a dream I had last month. Please, be patient, I´ll try to update as fast as possible.

-PJ, are we lost? – Teddy Duncan said to her older brother. PJ kept driving the family car around the road. The moon was already in the sky, and Teddy was worried sick. Gabe looked at the sky from his seat, and little Charlie was sleeping in her sister´s arms.

-I just don´t understand it – PJ said – how can someone get lost by coming back home from the mall? Oh, man! The lights aren´t helping. It´s too dark…

-Mom and Dad will be angry with us… - Teddy said calmly.

-Come on, Teddy, don´t worry, we´ll be there in a moment.

-PJ…

-Ssshhh… everything will be OK, Teddy, I promise.

-PJ! THE TRUCK!

(flash)

PJ slowly opened his eyes. Where was he? It was a white room. It was so white it hurt his eyes. He tried to wake up. The pain extended all around his body. He screamed.

-What? What´s wrong? – asked a girl who was beside him.

-My legs… they really hurt – PJ said before realizing that he had both legs wrapped in bandages.

-Well, that´s normal. I heard you had an accident with your car.

-The… the car… and the truck… THE TRUCK! TEDDY! IS SHE OK? AND GABE AND CHAR…

-Whoa, whoa, slow down – said the girl – if you´re talking about your family, they´re all OK… You are the only one who is staying in the hospital.

PJ turned to see the girl. She was pretty. She had straight long brown hair and she was wearing a blue dress.

-A hospital? Am I in a hospital.

-Yes, you are – answered calmly the girl.

-And I suppose… you are my room mate?

-Kind of – said the girl – we are four: you, me, another boy, and another girl. You´ll meet them. The girl is a bit moody, but the boy is really nice. By the way, my name is Alice. And you are?

-I´m PJ…


	2. Chapter 2

PJ liked his hospital room. It was pretty big. Next to his bed, there was another bed, where the other boy was supposed to sleep. It was connected to Alice´s room by a door. Alice slept there with the other girl. PJ looked around the room. There was a small desk with two chairs. PJ saw a book at the desk. It probably belonged to the other boy. He took a closer look. "The Ghost Next Door", by "R. ". PJ smiled, he liked that book.

Alice appeared at the door:

-Well, are you ready, PJ?

-Ready? Ready for what?

-Well, for the canteen, obviously. Jake and Marie are waiting for us there. Here. I´ll help you with the wheelchair. PJ had never been sitting in a wheelchair. It was fun, but he missed to walk.

A boy and a girl were sitting in a table at the canteen. The boy smiled to them. He stood up and shook hands with PJ.

-Hi! You must be PJ, right? Pleased to meet you. I´m Jake.

-Umm… pleased to meet you too, Jake.

The girl just rolled her eyes and kept eating.

-This is Marie – Alice said.

Marie´s hair was almost white, and she was really pale. He was wearing a white shirt, and white jeans, and white shoes. (Who can guess her favorite colour?)

Jake had that kind of smile that almost looked sad. Like someone who had been living in his own world for a while. While Alice and Jake chatted and laughed. PJ and Marie ate in silence.


	3. Chapter 3

After having lunch, Anya, the nurse, a very nice woman, suggested that PJ should take a bath. Since he couldn´t walk, Jake helped him sitting in the bathtub. He was such a nice guy, why was he in the hospital? He didn´t look hurt or anything. PJ didn´t dare to ask. He kept going on with his relaxing bath.

-Um… Jake? – asked PJ when he was done.

-Yes, PJ? Is everything OK? – said he from the other side of the door.

-I´m done with the bath. Do you think you could help me getting out and getting dressed?

-Well, sure! I´m coming.

A few seconds later, he stepped into the bathroom with one hand covering his eyes.

-Don´t worry, PJ, I´m not watching.

-Be careful Jake! The floor is wet! – but it was too late. Jake slipped and fell to the bathtub.

SPLASH!

-Whoa, Jake! Are you OK? – said PJ.

-I think so… I´m really sorry…

-Hey! It wasn't your fault! Now… um… can you get up?

-Sure, sorry…

-Hey guys – said Marie – do you mind if I brush my teeth here? Alice is in our bathroom and… WHOAAAA! What´s going on there?

-Whoa, it´s nothing, really – Jake said while PJ covered himself with a towel – I just slipped and fell to the bath.

Marie looked at them, then at the wet floor, then at PJ, then at Jake, and then, she burst out laughing. PJ couldn´t help laughing too. He was starting to like his new friends.


	4. Chapter 4

It was almost midnight. PJ stared at the night sky from the window of his bedroom. In the other bed, Jake was sleeping.

-Hi, PJ. I guess you cannot sleep, just like me, huh?

PJ turned to see who was talking. WOW! AN ANGEL! But no, it wasn´t an angel. It was just Marie, dressed in white, like always.

-Oh… hi, Marie…

-Look at him – Marie said giggling and pointing at Jake – he looks so cute when he is sleeping…

-Yes… - PJ said – he´s a nice guy…

-The poor guy… – said Marie sadly shaking her head.

-Why do you said that? What´s wrong with him?

-He´ll tell you if he wants. I promised not to tell.

-Oh… - said PJ – and why are you here?

-Well, some kind of heart problems?

-H-heart p-problems?

-Well, yes, you know, it sometimes stops working. Nothing painful.

-Aren´t you scared?

-Not at all.

-Wow, Marie… you really impressed me…

-I don´t usually tell about my heart problems to people…

-Why not?

-Because they´d start: oh my! poor girl! And I don´t like people feeling bad for me.

-Marie…

-Yes?

-I´m scared.

-Scared of what?

-Of never walking again.

-Well, you´d be stupid if you weren´t scared.

-I know, but…

-No buts – Marie said – close your eyes and get some rest. I know you are tired.

And so he did.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, PJ wanted to ask Jake about why was he in the hospital. But he didn´t dare. So, here they were. Four bored friends. Alice and Marie were lying on their beds. Jake was sitting in a chair, and PJ was lying on the ground.

-Damn! There´s nothing to do in a hospital… - said Alice.

-I have already finished my book… twice! – added Jake.

-Hey! I know what we can do! – said Marie suddenly – let´s play a game!

-What kind of game? – asked PJ.

-Um… I know! All of you, close your eyes – she waited until they had all closed them – now you must answer that question: where would you like to be right now?

-I would like to be… in an autumn forest! – said Alice – with lots and lots of orange and brown leaves covering the ground. And really cold wind.

-What would we wear? – asked Marie – and what would we do?

-We´d wear coats and scarves – said Jake – and boots.

-We would toss leaves at each other – added PJ – we would run making the dead leaves crunch under our feet… and then, we would all be lying on the ground.

-OK – continued Marie – picture that: the colors, the sounds… and now… open your eyes.

So they did. And what an amazing forest! It was just like they imagined. The leaves, the wind, even the clothes. They played for hours. After that, they were all lying in the ground. But, however, when they woke up, the amazing forest had disappeared.


	6. Chapter 6

PJ just couldn´t sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he remembered the accident. His family… they´d be really worried about him. He looked at Jake. Marie was right. He´s so cute when he´s sleeping… He stepped out of the room, crossed the hall, and went to the little balcony that was in front of the stairs. To his surprise, he saw Alice there. She was wearing headphones, and, when she saw PJ, she just smiled and handed him one of her headphones. PJ put it into his ear. Such a nice music. "The Big Ship", by "Brian Eno". The song made him think about his new friends, all the moments they had lived together. He remembered Alice helping him with the wheelchair. Jake, helping him getting dressed every day. Marie, with her curious imagination games. The song kept going on.

-PJ, I…

-Yes? – he asked.

-I drowned.

PJ looked at her curiously, waiting for her to keep talking.

-I had always been such a freak, PJ. No one liked me. I was always reading, or listening to music, writing, or drawing. I needed no friends. I was OK being alone. But the others made fun of me. Last month, my parents sent me to a camp. They said it would help me making friends, but I didn´t want to go. I was OK without friends. At the camp everyone made fun of me. Nobody liked me. So…

PJ nodded and Alice started breathing heavily. The song ended.

-So I made a plan. A plan that would make everyone feel sorry for me. That evening, we went to the river. We were supposed to swim to the other side. I wanted to pretend that I had drown, so the lifeguard would come and rescue me, and they would feel really sorry for leaving me alone. I waited under the water, PJ, I really waited, but no one realized I was gone. I waited, and waited. I couldn´t breathe. Then, everything was black. And then I was here.

-It´s OK, Alice. I mean, I don´t think you´re a freak. I don´t think you are stupid, for making such a dangerous plan. And the camp counselors were evil, too.

-I didn´t say anything about camp counselors.

-Well, you drowned last month, right?

-Yes

-Well, last month was January, and if they made you swim in a river on January, they must be crazy.

-PJ, last month was August. We´re in September now.

-Alice – PJ said – listen to me, the day I had the accident it was the 7th of February. How long have you been here?


	7. Chapter 7

PJ was walking fast, almost running through the hall. Door after door. He didn´t know where was he going, but he didn´t care.

How long had Alice been there? Still summer… She thinks it is still summer. Another door... What´s going on there?

Now he was running through the dark and endless hall. He started to remember things, the accident. His family. He had been a lot of time staying at the hospital. Why hadn´t his family visited him already? He hadn´t even seen his mother, who works in the hospital.

He just ran.

Faster and faster.

He saw Marie standing right in front of an elevator.

-Marie? Where are you going?

-PJ, I have to go…

-But… where?

-To the seventh floor, PJ.

-Marie, listen to me, there is no seventh floor in the hospital. There isn´t even a sixth floor. The floor where we are… it just doesn´t exist!

-Don´t worry PJ – Marie said, the same way PJ said to his sister, the day of the accident.

-B-but… Alice… she thinks it is still summer. She doesn´t know it´s February. She…

-PJ, it isn´t even February. The time… it just works different here.

-But… a week has just passed since I…

-Not a week, PJ, two months have already passed.

-But what about my family? What´s going on there?

-I´m sorry PJ, I really am. You´ll understand, I promise, but right now, I have to reach the seventh floor.

The elevator doors closed, with Marie inside. PJ tried to push the button, to make it come back. But then, he realized there was no elevator.


	8. Chapter 8

PJ stepped into the room. He could hear rain and thunders outside the window. He looked through the window and what did he see? Nothing, just mist, and that was all. A fake. This place was a fake. PJ suddenly noticed Jake, sitting on his bed, his face hidden in the shadows of the room.

-Jake! I´m so glad I found you. You won´t believe that, but this place…

-Doesn´t really exist – added sadly Jake.

-Yes! – PJ said – how do you know? If you know something about this… please! Just tell me! Are we… are we dead?

-No, PJ. We are not dead. We´re just sleeping. When someone suffers an accident, he or she sometimes ends here.

-You mean… we are in a coma?

-Yes, PJ, we all are. That´s the sixth floor of the hospital. That´s why you can´t see your family. And that´s why time works different here.

-The sixth floor… and what about the seventh? The one where Marie went.

-PJ, I´m afraid she went to the other side.

-The other…?

-She died, PJ. She went to heaven. Her heart was really fragile.

-And how do you know this? – asked PJ

-You can only know what´s going on, when you are ready to wake up.

-Then… are you waking up?

-No, PJ, I don´t want to wake up. I… I don´t want to come back. This is my place.

-What! No! You have to come back! Don´t you want to live again?

-No.

Suddenly PJ realized he couldn´t move, he was sinking in the floor like it was mud. He knew what was going on. He knew everything about the hospital now, so, he was waking up. He was ready. But he wasn´t going to leave Jake, so he grabbed his leg.

-No way, buddy! If I wake up, you will wake up with me.

-PJ! No! Please, I don´t want to!

FLASH!


	9. Chapter 9

-PJ! You woke up! – his sister Teddy happily said as she hugged him.

The light faded, and PJ could finally see again. All his family was there.

-PJ… I thought you were going to die… - said his brother Gabe as he hugged him, with tears in his eyes.

And then, here he was again, back in the car where everything started. PJ was sitting in the back, next to Teddy. His legs still hurt, but less than before. You may ask: What about Alice? And Jake? And Marie? Well, I suppose he dreamed them. It´s kind of sad… all his adventure… a dream…

-PJ! – said a voice inside his head – it wasn´t a dream! Listen to me!

PJ just shook his head. It was impossible. He was hearing voices.

PJ! – this time, PJ recognized Marie´s voice – tell them to stop the car!

No. It couldn´t be true… It was all a dream.

-What´s going on with the radio? – Amy said.

The radio suddenly changed the song. A song PJ knew very well… because he heard it in his dreams. "The Big Ship" by "Brian Eno". He remembered listening the song with Alice.

-Stop the car! Please, stop! - PJ said.

He stepped out of the car, and he saw Alice, in the hospital doors. Alice ran as fast as she could toward him. Now Alice was in front of him, crying. PJ hugged her.

-Alice… you were real…


	10. Chapter 10

-So, can you walk again? – Alice asked.

-Yes, I can – answered PJ calmly – and moving his leg for Alice´s surprise.

They remained silent for a while. Two months had already passed since they woke up.

-It was you, you know? – Alice said – the one who woke me up. You made me think about what was going on there, and how much time had passed.

-How´s everything going with your family?

Alice laughed: They promised to leave me alone and they finally understood that I was better without friends. But maybe… maybe I was wrong – PJ nodded silently – did you discover something about, um…

-Jake? Yes, the nurses told me he tried to kill himself.

-Really? But… why?

-I don´t know. I don´t even know where is he now. He could be dead, or alive. He wasn´t at the hospital when we woke up, so, I´m not even sure he was real.

-But he… he was there. We all were.

-I just want to think he is OK. He was such a nice guy… And I also miss Marie.

PJ saw a tear appearing in Alice´s eyes.

-Don´t be sad, Alice. Remember? She was the one who helped me realize you were real. Hey! I´ve got an idea! Let´s play!

-What do we play?

-The game Marie showed us. Just close your eyes, and think where would you want to be.

-I just want to be with Marie…

-She´ll be with us, if we think about her.

-Aw! Come on, PJ! You know dead people cannot appear just because we want.

-Who says we can´t, you moron? – said the familiar voice of a girl dressed in white behind her.

THE END


End file.
